Is a better SoCal surf spot too much to ask for?

[linter]

  I've been in Pacific Beach for a little over a week, surfing Tourmaline and Mission Beach jetty, and man does it suck.  I'm a dawn patrol guy and every morning there's shifty, half-choppy funk all over the water.  Plus, I have terrible balance, and the constant huge amount of backwash is driving me crazy.  I can't believe people here think this surf is good.  Compared to my home break back east, it's utter and total junk that we wouldn't go out in unless we were desperate. 
  Okay, rant over.  And I know this is all relative, so YMMV.
  Anyway, if it stays like this for another week, I'm seriously thinking about moving to a different location, if I can find one that suits my simple but seemingly impossible needs. 

   1/ Gots to have a left, since I can only go left
   2/ No fucking backwash (thus ruling out Cardiff up to Carlsbad).
   3/ No steep hills or stairs to climb.
   4/ Maybe is better in the morning.
   5/ Not too distant from possible housing.

   How has San O been this year?  I know it's yet another place that has fucking backwash but if it's no worse that it was last year, I could maybe deal with it ... even tho I really don't like surfing in a pack of SUPers.

  Thoughts and or suggestions, anyone?

   If you can't tell, I'm very very frustrated!

[SlatchJim]

The last couple weeks have been rather crappy surf wise.  You know, "Life is like a box of chocolates," where someone is a practical joker with the chocolate Exlax.

[seadart]

Yeah it sucks here  all the time, best to stay home next time and tell all your friends how bad  North County is.

 Good choice on Tourmaline and Pacific Beach, honestly the best spots in all of Southern California.

[Zooport]

Linter, it has been lousy all over SoCal recently.  The past two weeks have been pathetic here in OC too.  When there has been some sort of meager swell, the surface conditions have been terrible.  Totally flat in OC today.  So don't judge your spots yet.

[Subber]

What about Ocean Beach?

Also, Coronado - I've never surfed it, haven't been there
in, wow, probably two decades. But it seemed to have a mellow
break and be protected from the wind a bit.  I might be
totally wrong on this.  Anyone?

[SUPcheat]

I stick to the tides bracketed by the 3 foot marker to or from low, to keep the backwash reduced.  Above 3 foot tide, lots of backwash and chop always.
  Santa Cruz went from great to mediocre the past week and a half or so.  Strange, there have been rainstorms but no significant waves.

[PonoBill]

I don't notice much backwash at Cardiff. Sandbar break, so there's rights and lefts, and it dumps onto a pretty flat beach so there's no mechanism to kick up a big wash. Right at the river mouth there's a lot of longboarders usually, but it's SUP-able to both sides and outside. Works OK for me, though the surf sucks lately.

I like San O a lot, but that's as much for the people as the surfing. But when it's big, it's pretty darn good. Backwash galore when it's small, but the outside doesn't see it.

[littleray]

I hear it's about to go off back east.You wouldn't want to miss it. Polar vortex be damned.

[Califoilia]

How has San O been this year?  I know it's yet another place that has fucking backwash but if it's no worse that it was last year, I could maybe deal with it ... even tho I really don't like surfing in a pack of SUPers.

  Thoughts and or suggestions, anyone?

   If you can't tell, I'm very very frustrated!

I've been great, thank you for asking....

But the surf around here the past couple weeks has been pitiful....ankle biters have been the "big" sets.   

So bad in fact, that for "fun"....today StandinDan, and myself paddled our surfboards out of the harbor, and around the buoys just to see if our littler boards would still float us.....and yes, we both have 14' race boards, but when all you can do is paddle, and not surf, ya sometimes gotta get creative to stave off the boredom.

If you're staying down there, I wouldn't waste your time or gas on a drive up....sorry about that. 

[linter]

  Okay, well, glad I'm not the only one who's been having a bad week or two.  Supcheat: Great to know about the tidal shift thing.  One buddy here told me yesterday that the big moon has been messing things up too.  Told me to wait.  So I'll wait.
   bill: I just don't like the tightness of the pack at Cardiff.  I think I've probably been spoiled by the fairly wide-open cobblestone reefs and points back home.  There's another RIer in town right now who is an *excellent* longboarder and he said he's been in the water 27 times and still can't figure the surf out.
  and yet there are lots of folks having a blast out at Tourmaline and the jetty.  I see them catching waves and having fun and I hear 'em talking about it and I watch and study ... and holy crap it's just so different from what I'm used to.  Maybe I'll go have a look at OB and Coronado.
   I didn't have this trouble two years ago when I was here, nor last year (problem for me last year was el nino related) but this year, yup.  So, I'm hoping it's temporary.
   thanks guys for weighing in.

[Tom]

I don't think Coronado will answer your prayers, but you may want to look at La Jolla shores. I'd suggest Sunset Cliffs, but the 112 step stairs will not work for you.

[seadart]

If you think Cardiff is crowded, LaJolla shores is not the place for you.  Also any place with high tides and any kind of incline on the beach is going to have backwash, some people actually surf the back wash from bluffs and seawalls  back out for fun.

The thing to do is to use the SUP for what it was evolved to do and that is paddle along the coast until you find your own nice wave to surf away from the crowds.  Trust me there are 100s of nice spots that only locals know and all you have to do is paddle a half mile from where you park.

Get ready for some east coast surfing Friday AM, may I suggest Torrey Pines or Swammy's to get some real action. 

[cnski]

The surf is pretty good in RI no doubt. I've been in NE a year now and have had some amazing waves. All 6 of them. Having my rear end stapled to a chair 24/7 has certainly been a limiting factor. If that weren't the case my wave count would likely be 18.

[SlatchJim]

So this is what the lack of surf does to us.  We become grouchy, crabby, sarcastic grumblers.   
"Ya shoulda seen it yestaday."

Side note: We went out just ahead of the storm on our last trip to Santa Barbara, and while the conditions quickly turned to crap, my daughter said she'd caught more waves that day than ever before.  You never know who's gonna be getting there share and having a ball.

[linter]

   Actually, the crowd at La Jolla Shores doesn't bother me in the least.  There's always a corner somewhere to be had.
   On a positive note, I had my best session of the trip today, by paddling out to the point at Tourmaline.  Finally, a wave that doesn't close out.  Yay!  Because it directly faces cliffs, there was a good bit of backwash but it didn't bother me as much as it normally does, no doubt because the waves were so much better than the junk i've had to deal with these past two weeks.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a repeat performance.
   Folks here been telling me waves are coming this weekend but so is a ton of rain and you don't want to surf places that catch the runoff.  Maybe wait a day or two.  Okay, I can do that.